Once upon a time, in another life, I was Chief Executive of a large local authority in the West Midlands, the climax of a thirty year career starting with a law degree and qualifying as a solicitor. During that time I was involved in writing or editing several public sector textbooks but everything else got put on hold. That’s the nature of the job. The privilege of early retirement changes everything.

Now I play at management consultancy and only agree to do different and interesting work for people I enjoy working with – things as diverse as bio-fuel projects in far-flung places, helping dis-engaged young people with the Leaps & Bounds (Inspiring Change) Trust, acting as an adviser to Public Sector plc, being a trustee for Young Orchestras.com and for The Mariposa Trust (which organises the Saying Goodbye services for grieving parents) and running an Amazon trading business called Sparkys.

And around it all I write constantly.